


A.N.I

by DaniJayNel



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, F/F, Mentions of Death, Oneshot, Smut, android!Annie, mentions of torture, mikannie - Freeform, specific request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 14:25:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19465858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaniJayNel/pseuds/DaniJayNel
Summary: When Mikasa's eccentric boss smuggles a giant (illegal) crate into her apartment, she doesn't even give Mikasa time to say no or ask questions. Figuring she has no alternative, Mikasa agrees to watch the crate while Hange does whatever Hange does. When she hears noises inside, Mikasa immediately breaks the crate open. What she finds, is A.N.I. An Artificial Nebula Intelligence android. Mikasa names her Annie.Where did Annie come from? Why does Hange need to hide her? And why does Annie have memories only a human could have?





	A.N.I

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AceRinky (Asexual_Ravioli)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asexual_Ravioli/gifts).



> Hope you enjoy it

Mikasa only realized she had fallen asleep on her desk when her front door flew open and she nearly fell off her chair from the fright. A massive crate pushed its way into her apartment and Mikasa immediately grabbed the chair she had been sitting on to point it at the crate, as if it had arrived there on its own to harm her.

"Good, you're up!"

Hange hopped off the top of the crate. From around the crate Moblit stumbled into her apartment, sweating profusely and looking absolutely miserable.

"Hange, what the fuck?"

Hange slapped the side of the crate like it was a car and she the salesman. “Mikasa, I need to hide this thing here for a while. Moblit, can you wheel it in deeper? We can put it there next to the TV unit.”

Moblit groaned and started to do as instructed. His glasses nearly fell off his face and his white coat was completely creased. Mikasa stared at them, incredulous.

“With all due respect, Hange, can you please explain why you’re asking to hide this giant box in my apartment?”

Hange shook her head while giving Moblit directions on where to push the crate. “It’s top secret, Mikasa. I can’t give you the details.”

“Top secret? Since when are secrets kept from me, Mikasa Ackerman?”

“Since now. Petra Ral was murdered this morning, too, so we need to be extra careful.” Moblit slid to the floor in an exhausted heap when he finally finished pushing the crate, and Hange made a noise of satisfaction. Mikasa’s chest was clenched and her brain tried desperately to grasp on the news she had just received.

“Wait, what? Petra was murdered?”

Hange gave her a look. Sometimes people wondered if Hange actually cared about anything besides her experiments and her government work, but Mikasa knew her boss had a heart in there somewhere. Cold and tiny as it may be. The look on Hange’s face was mild grief, but she covered it quickly and put on her usual goofy, unaffected look.

“It’s quite unfortunate, but it comes with the job. So, I just need you to keep this crate here for a while, so I can figure things out, okay? It’s super-secret so you can’t tell a soul and you can’t look inside of it.” She approached and dropped a warm hand on Mikasa’s shoulder. “Please, whatever you do, don’t open it.”

Mikasa’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth, but as quickly as they had appeared, Hange and her assistant rushed from the apartment and then they were gone. Mikasa stared at the closed door after them, absolutely speechless. When her tongue went dry, she finally closed her mouth.

Disgruntled, Mikasa pulled her phone out and started a text.

**Mikasa:** Fine, I’ll look after it for you. But please, not for too long.

**Hange:** thnx M.A!! I appreciate it so mch. Also its sorta ntt sanctiond so like rlly dnt open it lol. Will also help to bring petras killer to justice

Mikasa’s head immediately started to throb with a headache. Not only had her boss just dumped an entire big ass crate in her apartment to hide, but it was apparently an illegal crate too. What the hell was even in it? She stared at the wooden crate and her imagination ran wild, but then she remembered that her co-worker had apparently been murdered and she decided that whatever scheme Hange had gotten sucked into, she’d rather not get herself involved.

Mikasa went to shower and have breakfast, because she still felt and smelt like ass. As she chewed on her healthy breakfast, she gave the crate the stink eye and sent a silent prayer up to whatever god might be listening, that Hange would retrieve her illegal, top secret and very dangerous crate soon. Because regardless of what was inside of it, the thing was big and it was an eyesore.

XxX

Days went by without word from Hange. Mikasa hesitated to leave the crate alone in her apartment, so she simply worked at home. Since she was the head of the advanced AI department for the Paradis government, she had her very own lab right at home where she could bring work home and complete in her own time. She signed an assload of papers swearing her secrecy, though, but she was fine with it because she rarely let people into her home.

The crate was still sitting there in the corner of her lounge. Mikasa felt like it was watching her, but that was absurd. It was just a wooden box. She had grown very paranoid about what it contained, and many times she had ventured close enough to study the surface of the wood panels. Once she had tried to see if there were any hole to peek in, but there was nothing.

After a week exactly, Mikasa heard a noise from inside the box. At first she had thought maybe it was a rat or something, but she knew very well that there was no living thing inside her apartment besides herself—and maybe whatever was in the crate. She ignored it the first time and continued making dinner, but then she heard it again. It was like a soft tapping followed then by a scrape, like nails over wood. The hairs at the back of Mikasa’s neck stood up immediately and she set her wooden spoon down on the counter. Despite the adrenalin suddenly shooting through her body, her hands were not shaking.

Mikasa carefully padded over to the box. She gripped her big steak knife in her hand and swallowed, heart thundering. The noises stopped when she neared, and she stilled for a long moment to wait and see if the noises would happen again. She must have stood there for minutes on end until her legs started to cramp, but as much as she wanted to believe she was just crazy—and that maybe her boss was pranking her or something—she couldn’t turn around and leave.

Mikasa heard a new noise, then. It was a voice—soft, but definitely human. She couldn’t make out the words, but they were then followed by a soft knock and then Mikasa jumped forward to pry the lid off the box. There was an actual person inside, damnit. Even though she wasn’t sure what to expect, she wasn’t going to just ignore the fact that she had just heard someone speak inside the box. She knew Hange was crazy, but to do this? Was it an experiment? Had Hange cloned herself or something?

When the front side of the crate finally popped off and flopped onto the ground, Mikasa swallowed thickly and stared into the dark crate. At first, she only saw a shape, and then two blue lights blinked on and she realized she was staring at eyes. The eyes shifted, blinking, and then started to move closer. Mikasa stumbled back immediately and tripped over her coffee table. She landed ass first on her couch, and from the crate a woman stumbled out. No, it wasn’t a woman. At least, not a human woman.

The woman paused a few steps from the crate, gave a once over around the room and then looked forward and remained absolutely still. There was a glowing ring at her temple that flickered every so often and Mikasa’s years in AI tech allowed her to recognize it immediately. They were still in the trial phases of developing androids. The circular piece at the temple was used as both an identifier that it was an android, but also a port to insert new memory chips. What Mikasa was looking at, was a fully fleshed, somehow functional android. Not only was this astounding, but she looked just like an actual human. Mikasa’s mechanics brain started to race with information.

“What is your name?” she asked aloud, wondering what sorts of commands the droid was programmed with.

“I am an Artificial Nebula Intelligence. Model number, unknown. Phase, unknown.”

She swallowed and scooted forward. “What is your purpose?”

The droid still looked forward, her face blank and emotionless. Her voice was small, soft and robotic. Though her skin looked real, and so too did the long blonde hair down to her shoulders, but she didn’t sound or act human at all. She didn’t even move as she stood there, as solid as steel. She was also completely naked, but she didn’t have any genitals, just slight breasts without nipples. Why had she been given breasts? Was Hange just into that?

“Error. Data corrupt. Unknown.”

Mikasa stood carefully. The droid didn’t react to her movement, but she still went very slowly as she approached. “Do you know who Hange Zoe is?” she asked.

The droid continued to stare forward. “Error. Data corrupt. Unknown.”

“Can you harm humans?”

“My programming prevents me from harming human beings of my own volition.”

“So you can hurt someone if ordered to?”

“Error. Data corrupt. Unknown.”

“Can you feel?”

There was a long pause. “Unknown.”

“Do you know my name?”

“Unknown.”

“Do you know Mikasa Ackerman?”

“Error. Data corrupt. Unknown.”

Mikasa sighed. She stopped right in front of the android. Though she looked completely human, there was just an emptiness to her expression that made Mikasa feel stupid for talking to her. Even though the droid seemed to understand her, and answered when she could, it wasn’t like she was talking to a real person.

“Can I touch you?”

At this the droid finally moved. It was so sudden that Mikasa nearly swallowed her tongue and she realized she had dropped the knife earlier, but all the droid did was tilt her head up and look at her. Those eyes were blank, but they were astonishingly blue. They glowed with a soft, unnatural light, and they were fascinating. Mikasa didn’t really sense a soul in them, but there as just _something_ about this droid’s eyes.

“Affirmative,” the droid told her.

Mikasa tentatively reached out. The droid’s eyes lowered to her approaching hand, and watched blankly as she gently pressed a finger against her arm. Mikasa sucked in a breath.

“You’re warm,” she stated. “This feels like human skin. Is it synthetic skin?”

“Affirmative. My skin is made from biological material.”

Mikasa felt in awe. “Wow. Are you completely mechanical, or do you have a lot of biological components?”

The droid continued to stare at her hand as she poked and prodded her soft, warm skin. She even had little hairs along her arms, and Mikasa assumed those were synthetic too.

“My internal structure is primarily mechanical; I am however made to mirror the human biological structure. I have an artificial heart and veins to allow my blood to flow through my body.”

Mikasa started to shake from the excitement of the moment. She completely forgot her unease and started to touch the droid more firmly, with more curiosity. She slid her hand up the droid’s arm to her shoulders, felt the ridges of her muscles and the soft hairs. She even ran her hand through the droid’s hair and marvelled at how real and soft it felt.

“Astonishing,” she finally breathed, eyes wide. “You’re magnificent.”

“Magnificent: impressively beautiful, elaborate, or extravagant; striking. Alternatives are very good, excellent. Synonyms--”

“That’s okay, I don’t need the definition or synonyms,” Mikasa hurried.

The droid stopped talking immediately. Mikasa felt mildly bad for interrupting, but she didn’t get any sort of emotional response, just obedient silence. Part of her felt a little frustrated that she wasn’t getting any emotion from the android, but then she supposed their technology wasn’t really there yet.

“Right, so, you’re naked. You may not be a human being, but I still feel weird having you standing here without clothes on.”

The android looked at her face. “My internal system regulates my temperature in response to external environment. I do not need clothing in order to prevent heat loss.”

Mikasa shook her head. “It’s more for my own comfort. Follow me.”

She half expected the droid to just stand there, but she followed immediately, a step right behind Mikasa. She felt very strange with the droid at her back. She barely made a noise as she walked, and if Mikasa hadn’t known she was there she wouldn’t have noticed her at all. They entered her bedroom and Mikasa dug out a pair of sweatpants and an old grey hoodie she barely wore. It was too small for her anyway, so she didn’t mind giving it over.

“Here,” she said, holding the clothes out. “Put these on.”

The droid stared at her but didn’t take the clothes. “Unknown,” she responded, monotone.

Mikasa sighed. “Of course, you don’t know how to dress yourself.”

It was incredibly strange, but Mikasa dressed the droid while instructing her to lift her legs or her arms. It wasn’t too difficult, because the droid listened to her immediately, so before long she was dressed and looking a little more human. Mikasa stood back and looked at her, pleased.

“You actually look cute like this,” she said.

The droid tilted her head, a bit of hair falling into her face. It didn’t seem to bother her. “Cute: an adjective. Comparative adjective, cuter. Superlative adjective—”

Mikasa let her list the various adjectives and synonyms and went to her dresser to dig around for something. When she found it, she returned to the droid and then tied her hair up in a bun so that it wouldn't fall in her face again. When she stood back to admire her work, the droid finished talking. Her glowing blue eyes blinked and flicked to meet Mikasa’s.

Mikasa suddenly felt unnerved. “You know, I think I’m going to name you. I can’t call you droid or Artificial Nebula Intelligence.” She considered the droid for a moment. “A.N.I. I’ll call you Annie!”

She didn’t react at all to the name, much to Mikasa’s disappointment. Mikasa expected something, maybe curiosity or confusion, but she got nothing. Sighing, she realized she probably needed to give a command. She seemed to be programmed to listen to simple commands and directions.

“Your name is now Annie. You should respond when called Annie, and it will be your identifier from here on out. Affirmative?”

The circle at her temple started to flicker repeatedly for a moment, and then it glowed bright for a second, then dimmed and returned to normal. “Affirmative,” Annie responded, still emotionless.

Mikasa wondered what on earth she was going to do with her. Why had Hange brought Annie to her? Her being unsanctioned made sense, since she was basically some form of artificial human. The biggest question Mikasa had, was how Annie connected to poor Petra’s death. Had Petra made her? Discovered her?

Wondering all these things made Mikasa’s headache.

“Your stress levels are elevated. Might I suggest various medications to assist?” Annie asked her, staring.

Mikasa shook her head. “I’m fine, Annie. But thank you. Can you go and sit on my couch and watch TV while I work?” Annie stared at her. “Do you know what TV is?”

“Unknown.”

Mikasa took Annie back to the lounge and directed her to sit. She at least did so easily, but when Mikasa switched the TV on and let some series play, Annie didn’t seem to be focusing at all. She just stared blankly, back straight. Mikasa left her there and retreated to the kitchen to finish her dinner. It was open plan, so she could watch Annie easily.

Not once did she move or react to the TV. Mikasa worried if she had just opened a giant, nasty can of worms. But was Annie really that dangerous?

XxX

It turned out that Annie wasn’t incapable of reacting to her surroundings. Mikasa left Annie to watch TV through the night. She woke up sporadically, incredibly paranoid, but she always found Annie in the same spot, watching TV. The channel never changed, either, but she seemed to be watching. In the morning, Mikasa found her still in the same spot. Her eyes were closed, though, so Mikasa deluded herself into thinking Annie had fallen asleep. The second Mikasa entered the room, Annie’s bright blue eyes opened.

“Good morning, Mikasa Ackerman,” Annie greeted her. “Did you sleep well?”

Mikasa’s heart jumped into her throat. This was different. “Good morning, Annie. I did, thank you. Did you sleep well?”

Annie turned her head to look at her. “I do not require much sleep. A few minutes of lowered brain functionality allows me to recharge.”

“That’s still a little bit of sleep, then.”

“In that case, I slept well, Mikasa Ackerman.”

Mikasa chewed on her lower lip. Part of her felt a flutter of excitement that Annie had remembered her name and knew to use it. That meant she could learn. She wondered if Annie was able to eventually learn human behaviour, even if it was simply to mimic it.

“Do you need to eat, Annie?” she asked, heading over to her fridge to pull out various fruits and cold meats.

Still on the couch, Annie answered. “I do not eat, Mikasa Ackerman. I run on solar energy and carbon dioxide drawn into my blood through my oral cavity.”

Mikasa laughed. “Your mouth.”

“Affirmative, my mouth.”

She curiously stared at Annie, then decided to ignore her for a bit while she made her breakfast and ate. The TV was still going strong, so Mikasa left her there through the day as she went about her business. She got so absorbed in her work that she completely forgot about Annie, and promptly nearly shat herself when she tiredly walked into her kitchen to grab something from the fridge and found Annie standing still in front of it. The front panel on the fridge was flickering wildly, but when Mikasa paused in the doorway it returned to normal, display the date, time and temperature.

Mikasa approached Annie carefully. “Are you done watching TV?”

Annie didn’t move. “Would you prefer I remain in my previous position?”

Mikasa stopped beside her, brows furrowed. “No, Annie. You’re free to move around my apartment as much as you want. Just don’t break anything. What were you doing with my fridge?”

Annie reached out and rested a hand against the fridge. “Communicating. My data strings are corrupted and destroyed. I hope to restore some of my functionality using this model EJ523.”

“My fridge?”

“Affirmative.”

“So you were talking to my fridge?”

“A refrigerating unit is incapable of speech, Mikasa Ackerman. I was merely exchanging data.”

Mikasa considered that a sarcastic response, even though it was delivered completely devoid of any bite. She carefully moved Annie to the side so that she could open the fridge and grab a water. “I think human conversation is the same thing. It’s exchanging data. Their brain processes my words, and my brain processes theirs.”

Annie stared up at her for a second, the circle at her temple flickering wildly again. Mikasa theorized that it did that as a result of Annie learning. Perhaps she was using higher brain functionality in order to store new data and make sense of it. It appeared that she had lost a lot of data. If she had once contained a personality, even an artificial one, it was gone. That made Mikasa sad. How wonderful would Annie have been, if she had her own thoughts and feelings?

“Your analogy is correct, Mikasa Ackerman. I have updated my database.”

“Please, just call me Mikasa.”

“Affirmative. Owner title changed to _Mikasa._ ”

Mikasa’s brows lifted. “Owner?” She shook her head and put a hand on Annie’s shoulder. Surprisingly, Annie glanced at her hand and her eyes lowered by a tiny fraction. “No one is your owner, Annie. I know someone made you, so technically you have a creator, but you have no owner. It’s definitely not me.”

“I am an Artificial Nebula Intelligence, Mikasa. I am not a real person.”

Mikasa dropped her hand and shrugged. “Hey, you’re warm and you talk. That’s real to me.”

Annie’s temple ring flickered again, turned orange for a tiny second, then returned to its normal white colour. “Affirmative.”

Mikasa turned and headed back to her office. “Stop talking so stiffly!” she called over her shoulder. “Watch more TV and figure out how to talk like a normal person. You’re free to change the channel to whatever you want.”

She didn’t wait to see if Annie listened to her, but when she stumbled into the kitchen later for another water, she saw Annie flicking wildly through the channels. The sight made her both uneasy and excited. What if Annie actually learnt from it? That would be amazing.

XxX

It turned out that Annie learnt frighteningly fast. Her hours spent in front of the TV developed her language and behaviour skills. By the end of the first week, she was using a lot of words that even Mikasa had never heard of. Annie went about her own business through the day, exploring the apartment. Mikasa often spotted Annie studying the various appliances in her kitchen, and she knew that Annie had some sort of feud with the toaster for some reason. Annie refused to get close to it, and it almost looked like she was glaring at it.

Mikasa was woken by her phone buzzing with a message, so she reached out and grabbed it, groaning.

**Hange:** hey im coming to check on the thing. Be there in 5

Mikasa flew out of bed. Her hair was all sorts of whack and she only had her tank top and panties on, but she still ran out of her room and into the lounge, where Annie was sitting right on top of the coffee table. Annie turned quickly when she skidded into the room, and she adopted a concerned look.

“What is the matter, dawg?”

Mikasa had no time to explain why using that word was _bad._ “I need you to get into the box, please. Someone is coming over to check on you and they can’t know that I let you out.”

Annie’s circle flickered. “Okay.” She stood and headed over to the crate, but Mikasa quickly grabbed her.

“Wait, your clothes.”

She pulled the hoodie off and told Annie to take the pants off too. She did, and took the elastic out of her hair without being prompted. She then stepped back into the box, closed her eyes and her circle started to glow and fade softly, as if she had put herself to sleep. Like the PC version of sleep.

Mikasa put the crate’s lid back on, rushed back to her room to discard the clothes and dress, and finished just in time to answer the door when Hange knocked. Her boss looked about as messy and disorganized as usual, but there was a glimmer of excitement in her eyes.

“Would you do me the favour of stepping out for a moment while I check on my thing?”

Mikasa swallowed. _You mean the whole android you shoved in that box._ “Sure.” She stepped out of her apartment and waited, patient, as Hange disappeared inside. She guessed Hange was opening the crate to check on Annie, and Mikasa’s pulse raced with anxiety. What if Hange realized the crate had been opened? That Annie had spent the last week watching Real Housewives and chatting with EJ, the fridge. After a few short minutes, Hange exited the apartment with a giant sigh.

“Thank you, Mikasa. I really appreciate that you’re helping me.”

Mikasa’s pulse still didn’t calm down. With Hange it was incredibly difficult to tell what she was thinking or feeling. She could be absolutely furious but you would assume she was totally fine. “Is the thing okay?”

“Yes, perfect!”

“Do you mind if I ask what’s in there?”

Hange gave her a serious look. “I really can’t, I’m sorry.”

“Because it’s illegal.”

“Yes.”

“Did you ever find Petra’s killer?”

Hange’s head turned slightly towards the door, but she heaved out a great sigh. “Not really. But that crate there is really going to help, so just keep it safe, okay?”

Mikasa nodded and watched Hange storm down the hallway to the elevator. She was bouncing on her heels even when she stumbled into the elevator, and then she waved at Mikasa with a giant grin and the doors closed.

Mikasa rushed back inside and pried the crate’s door off. Annie was inside, exactly the same as when she’d been there a week ago. Her eyes opened and her circle turned a bright white when her eyes settled on Mikasa’s face.

“Is it safe to return to my usual schedule?” Annie asked her.

Mikasa wanted to laugh. “Yes. Just, dress first.”

“I will need my clothes for that, Mikasa.”

Mikasa did a double take. “Were you just sarcastic with me?”

Annie’s blue eyes showed no emotion, but her circle flickered. “I did. Was it good?”

Mikasa couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Perfect. Keep it up.”

“Sure, _mom_ ,” Annie responded. Her voice changed pitch with the last word, perfectly sounding the right amount of sarcastic and annoyed. It was a bit frightening, but Mikasa couldn’t help but feel like it was a victory.

She returned Annie’s clothes, let her dress in privacy and then went to her lab.

XxX

Two weeks after Annie entered her life, Mikasa discovered that she detested the toaster and that Annie had unnatural strength. She had been busy making lunch when, directly behind her, Annie had crushed the toaster into a little ball between her hands. Mikasa had first been horrified, then when Annie gave her a scornful look, she had burst into laughter. Annie had grown a lot more expressive over the last week. Mikasa wasn’t sure if she should really celebrate that Annie just became more of a moody teenager than anything else.

“Why did you destroy my toaster?” Mikasa asked her, red and gasping from laughing so hard.

Annie carefully deposited the toaster ball into the nearby trash recycler. “I was not fond of it,” Annie answered.

Mikasa lifted a brow. “Did he say something mean to you?”

Annie didn’t reply, only walked to the fridge, pressed her hand to it and then closed her eyes. When they opened, her eyes glowed brighter. Her lips twitched ever so slightly. “EJ didn’t like R2,” Annie told her. She then walked out of the kitchen and into the lounge, where she put the TV on and stared, without blinking.

So, Annie had become close with her fridge, EJ, and had just murdered her poor toaster, R2, who her fridge apparently didn’t like. This was… interesting.

Later on, Mikasa found odd blue drops all over her apartment. She puzzled over them for a while, then when she watched Annie walk by she saw that her palms were dyed a dark blue. She immediately grabbed Annie’s hands to investigate, thinking she had somehow gotten paint or something. Annie actually flinched when she touched her.

“Annie, what happened?”

Annie stared at her hands. “It appears I injured myself.”

Mikasa looked at them too. There were some cuts along her skin, oozing that same dark blue liquid. Her fingers were covered in the stuff and she had been dripping all around the house. “Is this your blood?”

“Unfortunately.”

Mikasa snorted. “I really love your snark, but this isn’t the right time.”

“I think every time is the right time, Mikasa.”

She ignored the response and pulled Annie with her to the bathroom. There she grabbed some supplies and went about cleaning Annie’s skin. When she dabbed it with some healing gel, Annie flinched. Her face showed the first real bit of emotion on it—pain.

“Did that hurt?”

Annie flexed her fingers. “Yes. My injuries do cause pain.”

Mikasa waited for the gel to start working. She hoped it would, since Annie’s skin closely resembled normal human skin. “Why would you be given pain receptors?”

Annie looked unblinkingly into her eyes. “To receive punishment.” She didn’t look away. “If need be.”

Mikasa’s stomach rolled. The wounds sealed up nicely and Mikasa gently washed the blood from Annie’s skin. “I think that’s awful. I can understand being able to feel pain so that you can better protect your body, but for punishment? That’s horrible.”

“From what I have learnt watching your TV, it is human nature to inflict pain and spread cruelty.” Annie withdrew her hands and curled them into fists against her chest. When she looked up at Mikasa, her eyes held emotion in them. Mikasa looked at her, and she actually saw someone staring back. “But not you, Mikasa. You are one of the good ones.”

Mikasa hated the way her heart jumped. “A compliment, from you?”

Annie gave her the slightest bit of a smile. “I may not be programmed to do it, sure, but I think I can do it if I try.”

Mikasa laughed and cupped Annie’s face with her hand. She felt so soft and warm, like she was an actual person. Mikasa stilled and stared at her, and Annie stared right back. She suddenly noticed how beautiful Annie was. Even though every bit of her had been specifically designed by someone, from her pigmentation to her stature and build and her facial features, it still struck Mikasa in the chest.

_I’ve been single for too long,_ she told herself, withdrawing her hand like she burnt it. _Don’t be stupid and start caring this much about an android._ But the way Annie was looking at her, it was like she was asking to be cared about. Like she wanted it.

“Shall I attempt to prepare a meal for us?” Annie asked her out of the blue, snapping the tension in Mikasa’s body. Mikasa exhaled.

“Firstly, you don’t eat. Secondly, I don’t trust you in my kitchen anymore.”

“So, no?”

“Yeah, that’s a no.”’

Annie’s face morphed into a sour expression. It was so believable that Mikasa was shocked. “Party pooper,” Annie whined.

Mikasa left the bathroom feeling alarmed. Annie disappeared into some other part of the apartment, to do whatever it was she did during the day. As much as Mikasa tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about the look in Annie’s eyes, or the ridge of her nose and the soft blue of her lips. It was insane. Probably nasty of her too, to feel attracted to a fucking android. But what more was a lonely lesbian supposed to do? She was hopeless.

XxX

Three weeks since opening that crate for the first time, Annie said something that made Mikasa’s stomach drop hard. They were both sitting on the couch beside each other, mindlessly watching a cartoon. Annie seemed incredibly interested, almost sitting on the edge of the seat, and Mikasa enjoyed watching her more than the screen.

“I miss the taste of ice cream,” Annie suddenly said.

Mikasa jolted. “What did you just say?”

Annie looked to her. “I said I miss the taste of ice cream.”

“Have you ever tasted it before?”

A furrow formed between Annie’s brow and her circle flickered. “I… don’t know.”

Mikasa’s hand clenched into a fist. “You must have before. How do you know you miss the taste?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can you taste anything now?”

Annie continued to stare blankly at her, but there was a part of her that seemed to be frustrated. It seemed entirely too genuine. A lot of Annie’s emotional responses seemed to be mimicked specifically to give Mikasa feedback, not a reflection of Annie’s own feelings, if she had them. This… this confirmed that she did. Somewhere in there, Annie had a memory of tasting ice cream. What did that mean?

“I can’t,” Annie told her. “I don’t have a sense of taste. My tongue was designed with communication in mind, not eating, since I don’t need to eat.”

Mikasa nodded. “That makes sense. I never thought of that.”

“That’s why I don’t have a pussy either.”

Mikasa nearly swallowed her whole damn tongue. Her eyes widened and bugged out and Annie’s deadpan voice and unbothered expression just made the entire thing even funnier. She started to laugh deeply and loudly, and when she was done Annie looked at her confused.

“Where did you learn that word, Annie?”

Annie tipped her head towards the TV. “Late at night they play pornography. When I heard the word I searched my database for its meaning. I couldn’t find it, so I had to use your mobile device to search the meaning. A pussy is a vagina, Mikasa. I don’t have one.”

Mikasa felt her face burn. “I know, but thanks for telling me.”

Annie let out the softest noise, almost like a laugh. Her eyes crinkled slightly at the edges. “That word makes you uncomfortable.”

“I does, but you’re free to express yourself however you want.”

Annie tilted her head and scooted closer. “Sex fascinates me,” she said. “I… feel like I have experienced it, but I have no memories. I have extensively studied all of the pornography available after midnight. Do humans often copulate with animals, too?”

“Jesus. No, Annie. What channel were you watching?”

“Some strange channels.”

“Try to avoid them. A lot of porn is actually not a good representation of good, healthy sex. All of it is made with consumption in mind.”

Annie’s eyes lowered and her lips pursed. “You mean that the sex on TV is all fake?”

“I mean, most of it. Sex isn’t really like that.”

“Oh.” She stared deeply into Mikasa’s eyes. “Have you had sex before?”

Mikasa’s heart leapt into her throat. Despite the fact that she looked completely unphased, her cheeks were dusted with red and Annie noticed. “I, uh… I have.”

Annie nodded. “Would you expect sex from me?”

Mikasa lifted her hands and waved them frantically. “Of course not! Why would you think that?”

Annie’s eyes went distant for a second and her circle flickered wildly. “I have a few strings of data that allude to sexual acts. I can’t properly access them, though. Do you think I was made in order to provide pleasure to humans?”

God, Mikasa had thought about that, and it made her feel sick to her stomach. “Well, you don’t have any genitals,” she explained, trying to breathe evenly. “You’re female presenting, but I don’t think you were made to be a sex object.”

Annie gave her a stern look, then her shoulders dropped and she nodded. “Good.”

Was she relieved? Mikasa didn’t ask her. Instead she changed the channel to some cooking show and the two of them remained silent for the rest of the evening. The topic still bothered Mikasa a lot, though. First the ice cream, then the confession that she might have done something regarding sex before? Who had made Annie, and for what purpose? It was all so confusing and Mikasa knew that she would probably hate the answer.

As much as she wished, they couldn’t just carry on peacefully like this. What was she going to do when Hange eventually wanted her back? What would Hange even do with her? Mikasa felt agitated for the rest of the evening and struggled to fall asleep. Finally she did, but her dreams were unpleasant. All of them involved Annie, and none of them were kind.

XxX

Annie really started to develop a personality and will of her own. So far the worst thing she had done was destroy the toaster, so Mikasa wasn’t really afraid of her. She probably should have been, but when she sat down with Annie and talked to her about everything she had learnt on TV or the internet, she didn’t see a dangerous weapon. She saw a person.

Exactly a month since Annie’s crate release, Mikasa left for the store to stock up on food. She had been going to work on and off through the week, testing it to see if Annie would do anything strange while she was out. All Annie did was everything she had already been doing, so Mikasa determined it was probably safe to stay out for long periods of time. So, to the grocery store she went, and she took a while. When she got back, she couldn’t find Annie anywhere.

“Annie!” she rushed through the apartment, looking in every room and behind every curtain. Her heart was racing hard. Her stomach felt sick with anxiety, because if someone else found Annie? She would be in danger. If she hurt someone in defence, no doubt she would be executed and destroyed, or carted off to some ultra-secret government facility. Mikasa knew they existed, but had never been to one and she counted herself lucky.

She actually found Annie when she finally stumbled onto the balcony. There she was, on the next balcony over, sitting in a chair and cuddling a cat to her chest. Mikasa stood there, mouth hanging open, perplexed, as Annie cooed and rubbed her face against the cat’s long, thick fur. The cat itself seemed quite pleased with Annie’s attention, so it definitely felt safe and comfortable.

“Annie!” Mikasa called out. “What are you doing over there?”

Annie only glanced at her. “I found a cat!”

Mikasa’s brows knit together. “Please come back this side, that’s someone else’s house.”

“I know.” Annie continued smushing her face against the cat. “I wanted to hold a cat.”

Mikasa’s anxiety from earlier returned. Annie wasn’t listening to her immediately, and this made her _very_ worried. That was unfair of her, true, because she was telling Annie she had her own agency, but then getting upset at a refusal to follow command. Mikasa suddenly felt like a parent.

“Please come back inside before someone sees you, Annie. We can let you play with the cat again.”

Thankfully, Annie set the cat down and then jumped back over to Mikasa’s balcony. Mikasa’s heart did a backflip of panic when Annie just suddenly sprang into the air, seven stories high. When she was safe inside the apartment again, Annie looked a little sour. Mikasa took her hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t let you stay out there.”

“I know. I just wanted to know what a cat feels like.”

Mikasa nodded. “Could you feel it?”

At this, Annie smiled softly. She squeezed Mikasa’s hand. “I could. It felt… familiar, somehow. Mikasa, how do I know what a cat feels like?”

Mikasa didn’t have an answer for her. All she could do was shake her head and offer something she only just considered, but what made her incredibly curious.

“Would you like a cat of your own?”

Annie’s eyes widened. Her circle flickered wildly and turned bright red before it returned to its normal white. Was it due to an intense emotional response? Fascinating.

“Fuck yes!”

“Annie, language.”

“I’m an android, Mikasa. I can say fuck if I want to.”

XxX

A large part of what comprised Annie’s body seemed to be synthetic organic material. While her skin looked and acted like real human flesh, it wasn’t. The only way she felt any sort of sensation was through carefully constructed nerves given to her purposefully. Annie had no sense of taste, though her tongue and the inside of her mouth could feel pain. That seemed to be the major sensation she could feel throughout her body—pain. That made sense to Mikasa when she thought of it from a logical perspective.

Annie was an imitation of a living thing, ergo she needed to protect her body. The body’s natural way to do that was to detect pain, which was essentially detecting whatever was harming the body. Still, it saddened Mikasa that Annie couldn’t truly feel anything else. She wasn’t ticklish—Mikasa had tried to tickle her to find out. She could feel herself being touched, but she described it as just a vague pressure, and that was it. No pleasure.

Annie’s comment about the ice-cream had really kept Mikasa up at night. So, with Annie’s permission, she started to experiment on her a little. She didn’t tell her what she was doing, but she pulled her apart and inspected the pieces, and she was astonished to find that she was gradually learning how Annie’s body worked. Even though she had biological material, it was all merely mechanics made to mimic. It took a little over a week, but Mikasa managed to finally figure out a way to develop a sense of taste for Annie, and it all relied on the coding in her brain. Her tongue was already infused with the nerves, but the specific switches just weren’t on. After Mikasa figured it out, she started developing a ‘crack’ to flip those switches on and give Annie the ability to taste anything on her tongue.

After two weeks, she was successful. When she asked Annie to plug the small drive into her spinal port, she did so without hesitation—though with a playful tease of suspicion. Her circle flickered wildly between red and orange as the crack downloaded and spread through Annie’s brain, and then she pulled the drive out and handed it back. She looked puzzled.

“What did that do?”

Mikasa felt like she was shaking with excitement. “Wait here.” She rushed out of her lab and into her kitchen to grab a tub of ice-cream, then returned. Annie was still sitting patiently by her desk. Mikasa stuck a big spoon in the cooled ice-cream, then held it out for Annie to take. It was chocolate chip and it looked delicious, and Annie stared at the spoon like it would bite her.

“What are you doing?”

Mikasa’s lips twitched. “Trust me and shove this in your mouth.”

Giving her a dirty look, Annie took the spoon and did so. Mikasa could see that she was doubtful of the whole thing, but when the treat smeared over her tongue and melted down her throat, Annie’s unnaturally blue eyes widened. Her circle flickered wildly with a bright, concerning purple.

“What the fuck?” Annie exclaimed.

Mikasa finally allowed herself to grin. “Welcome to the world of taste.”

Annie snatched the tub of ice-cream and continued to eat the entire thing as Mikasa sat there, grinning stupidly and watching. When Annie finished, she licked the side of the container, scrunched her nose, then hopped off the chair.

“Plastic tastes just as bad as I remember.”

Mikasa’s smile slipped. “Yeah?”

Annie nodded. She reached out and took Mikasa’s hand, then to Mikasa’s shock, lifted it to lick along her wrist. Her tongue was cold from the ice-cream, but oddly dry since she did not produce any saliva. It still made Mikasa’s face burn.

“Sweat,” Annie announced softly, eyes closed. “Salty. Ocean. Tears.” Her eyes opened and her circle continued to flicker. “I… remember these things.”

Mikasa’s brows furrowed. “Do you think you will ever be able to recover your memories?”

Annie dropped her hand and went over to her desk to stare down at the various metal objects—all projects Mikasa was working on. “I don’t know. I’d like to, but I’m afraid of what I’ll find.”

“Yeah, I can imag—please don’t lick that!”

She hopped up and grabbed Annie’s hand just in time, and removed the dangerous device from her hand. Despite the serious moment, Annie seemed to be in a good mood. She went about the room and attempted to lick everything, with Mikasa hot on her heels trying to stop her. When Annie reached the lounge and found the kitten Mikasa had bought for her, she proceeded to lick its head. Mikasa could only laugh at her disgusted expression.

“Pussy does not taste good,” Annie commented with a curl of her lip.

Mikasa cleared her throat. “I wouldn’t use that word, but yeah. I assume cats don’t taste good.”

“Mikasa, did you consider that fact that I have no digestive system?”

Annie set her cat down—not before kissing her gently on the head—and then patted her abdomen. “The ice-cream is slowly seeping through all of my internal parts.”

Mikasa’s eyes widened. “Shit, you’re right.”

They quickly rushed to Mikasa’s lab where she opened Annie up and cleaned all of the melted ice-cream. While she was in there, she noted a tiny bit of damaged wiring and so fixed that as well. When she was done, she let Annie leave to do her usual of watching TV and talking to her cat, and went back to her own work.

An hour later, Annie started to scream.

Mikasa raced into the lounge, not sure what she would see. She fully expected to find Hange in her lounge, with a horde of armed men at her side. She expected to see Annie restrained or worse, damaged. Instead, she found Annie sitting on the couch, her hands pulling hard at her hair and her eyes incredibly wide. She looked shocked beyond belief, and when she heard Mikasa’s footsteps she jolted and ran. Mikasa immediately went after her and managed to grab hold of her just before Annie fled through the door, and then she had Annie against the door and she stared into her terrified face.

“Annie? What happened? Talk to me.”

Annie brought her hands between them, but grabbed hold of Mikasa’s shirt and balled her hands into tight fists. Astonishingly, her hands were shaking. “I… remembered,” she uttered softly. “You must have connected something inside of me when you cleaned the ice-cream. I remember, Mikasa.”

Mikasa could hardly breathe. Her heart felt like it was ready to burst from her chest. Her stomach churned and her chest hurt, and she hated the distraught look on Annie’s face. “What did you remember?”

Annie slowly tipped forward, until her face was pressed against Mikasa’s chest. She felt… real.

“My name is Annie Leonhardt,” she said softly, voice muffled. “I was 23 years old when I worked as a spy for the Nation of Marley. I was 24 when I was captured and died during intense torture interrogation. Most of my brain was harvested and placed inside of a synthetic body, so that I could continue interrogation.”

Mikasa stared at her door, eyes wide. “You… what?”

Annie’s shoulders started to heave. It was as if she couldn’t breathe anymore, so Mikasa pulled her into a tight embrace. When she thought Annie had calmed down, she only seemed to get worse. She screamed again and wrestled away from her, like she was suddenly in a different place. She tried to flee, but Mikasa kept a tight hold on her despite the danger. Before Annie could hurt her, Annie’s circle went black and then she shut down. She must have overloaded.

Mikasa slumped to the floor with Annie in her arms. She stared down at her face, at the slope of her nose and the soft blue of her lips. She looked at the small shell of her ear and the line of her jaw, and her chest clenched tightly with anger. She carried Annie to her bed, then went to her study to investigate. She would wait to speak with Annie again, but in the meantime, she wanted to find out what was really going on.

Using her better sense, Mikasa accessed the internet anonymously to try and get information. The moment she was shut out, she realized it was too risky. Her government was watching for this, and if she wasn’t careful, they would realize that she knew.

Annie was a spy? What else had she done? Been made to do? Had been done _to_ her?

With a sinking realization, Mikasa remembered her former colleague, Petra Ral.

XxX

After remembering who she really was, Annie seemed capable of a full range of human emotion. She still lacked a lot, which she pointed out when she noticed, but she was otherwise like a normal person.

“I was just supposed to intern at Paradis Robotics,” Annie explained, running her fingers through her kitten’s soft ginger hair. “I ended up getting really involved with Petra Ral.”

Mikasa nodded. Her head was pounding. For the past hour, Annie had been telling her everything she remembered. She poured out every memory she had until all that was left was to explain what led her into the clutches of the Paradis government and ultimately, her death.

“Did you become really close?” Mikasa asked her.

Annie looked like she would have blushed if she could have. “Yeah. I used her affection for me to get as much information as possible. I sent encrypted messages back to Marley every time I learnt something new. Petra was very… easy to manipulate. I ended up caring about her, though, so I wanted out. But the day I planned on leaving back to Marley, I was exposed.” Her glowing eyes darkened and her circle flickered wildly in what must have been anger. “I don’t know how it happened. Before I knew it, I was being pulled out of Petra’s bed and arrested. I was put through intense torture.” She grew silent for a long moment, so Mikasa got up to make herself some tea.

“Take your time,” she told her.

“I want to get this out,” Annie responded. “I feel like my head is going to explode if I don’t unload all of this data. Plus, I trust you.” Mikasa turned curiously and caught Annie’s gaze. Her heart did a little flip. “With my life.”

Mikasa cleared her throat. “Right.”

“I won’t go into detail on what they did to me. Even I don’t want to relive that. I died a month after they captured me. When I woke up again, I was incredibly confused. At first, they didn’t have a body for me. They hooked my brain up to all these machines and they sent certain signals using equipment. They let me see using a camera, and they spoke to me using a computer. It was… horrifying, experiencing that. I didn’t have a body. I was aware, but I had no shell. I get sick just remembering it.” She exhaled a cool breath and swept her blonde hair back. “So they decided to give me a body, hoping to further their research and get extra information out of me.

“They used me more for the experimentation than for information. I wasn’t high in rank, and I only knew what I learnt about Paradis. I was recruited young, from a poor family and trained in Marley to be a spy. I never met those that ran the program or the people that sent me here. I guess the people that interrogated me must have figured that out. I just became a brain to them, then.”

Mikasa slowly drank her tea, staring at the smooth surface of her island counter. She let Annie’s words swirl around her mind and underneath all of the horror and pain, there was intense, deep rage. She had never realized that her own government were this twisted.

“How did Petra die?” she finally asked, voice tight and clipped.

“When they switched me on for the first time, my first instinct was to attack. I snapped Petra’s neck before I realized who she was. Unlike everyone else, she was the only one that seemed to actually care. I remember her always being upset by what they were doing with me, but she had no power and could only help me in little ways. Maybe she wanted to try and free me later on, but she died immediately.”

Annie looked away. Her kitten hopped off the counter and lazily strolled into the hallway, but they let her go.

“Who was the head of your experiment?” Mikasa asked softly.

Annie looked at her, face stern. “You know exactly who.”

“I want to hear you say it.”

“It was Hange, Mikasa. Hange’s idea to harvest my brain. Hange’s idea to put me in a jar and hook me up to computers. Hange’s idea to give me a robotic body. Hange is… unhinged.”

Mikasa bit down on her lip until the pain was unbearable. She was sure that if she saw Hange again, she would attack her. She would go for her face and break every bone she had. Inhaling shakily, Mikasa set her cup down in the sink and went to join Annie’s side.

“Hange has been busy at Paradis Robotics. I don’t know what she’s been doing, but she hasn’t spoken to me at all. I don’t know when she plans on coming to get you.”

Annie straightened. “She could show up at any moment.”

“She could. We need to figure out what to do with you.”

Annie glanced down at her lap. “They will kill you for this,” she said. “For restoring my memory. For helping me.”

Mikasa covered Annie’s hands with her own. She smiled. “Annie, you… are extraordinary. I would gladly give my life to help you. But they won’t get me that easily. I can disappear. I can help you return to Marley.”

“I can’t go back there. I don’t have anyone waiting, and if they get word that I’m back they might just try to kill me.” She sighed. “Marley are just as bad as Paradis, don’t forget that.”

Mikasa nodded. “What do you want, Annie?”

“I…” Annie stared at their hands. “I just want to live a peaceful life. I want to lay in bed and read books. I want to sit next to a warm fire and cuddle with my cat. I was never allowed to just live my life. I’m tired of pulling myself to pieces for other people.”

Mikasa nodded, resolute. “Whatever you want, then, I’ll help you get it. All you need to do is ask. We need to figure this out quickly, though. We don’t know when Hange or anyone else might find you.”

“Yeah. I’ll… let me think on it, okay?”

Annie gave her hand a soft squeeze. Mikasa remembered how easy it was for Annie to destroy things, and to feel the gentle pressure of her grip made Mikasa’s chest squeeze. In that moment, with Annie looking at her so openly, she almost leaned forward and closed the gap between them. Annie’s lips would be warm, she knew, but she couldn’t do that yet. Maybe not ever.

“When you figure it out, let me know,” Mikasa told her. She pulled her hand away. “Anything you want, Annie. I’ll do whatever I can.”

XxX

In that particular dream, she and Annie met at Paradis Robotics and started a quick, intense affair. Annie wasn’t a spy, but just a brilliant engineer with a passion for building things. In the dream, Annie was whole and Mikasa was head over heels in love with her.

When Mikasa gasped awake, she had just been about to slide her fingers inside of Annie in the dream, and she groaned when she realized what her reality really was and that she had woken up just before the good part.

“You were dreaming about me.”

Mikasa shot up. Her first instinct was to always strike first, but she immediately recognized Annie’s voice so it was easy to keep her fists unclenched even as her heart shot into her throat. Annie was sitting beside her on the bed.

“Jesus, Annie,” she groaned. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Annie stared pointedly at her, then she slowly started to smirk. “I’ve been here for hours. I didn’t wake you.” A brow quirked. “But that dream you were having sounded like it was getting good.”

At that, Mikasa’s face blossomed. “That’s none of your business.”

“It is, if it’s my name you’re moaning.”

Mikasa covered her face with a hand. “Oh god, did I really?”

“No, but you just confirmed that you were having a sex dream about me.”

Mikasa’s head shot up. Annie was grinning at her like she was the smartest person alive. Mikasa immediately threw her pillow at her, but Annie leaned to the side and dodged it easily. “Why are you in my room and sitting on my bed?”

“I was watching you.”

Mikasa’s stomach fluttered. “You were?”

“I’ve been doing it since I started doing things on my own.” She said it with such indifference that Mikasa could only gape at her. “You’re peaceful to look at when you sleep. I enjoy watching you.”

“I’m not sure how to respond to that.”

“You don’t have to. You’re also very active while you dream, and sometimes you do speak. It gets funny.”

Mikasa retrieved her pillow and threw it again, and this time Annie didn’t move so it smacked her in the face. She only laughed. “That’s—you’re—”

“It’s creepy, I know. I’m sorry.”

They fell silent, staring at each other. Mikasa still felt hot all over from her dream and her cheeks were incredibly warm after Annie’s teasing. The way Annie was staring at her, too, made her feel unbearably hot. Because, yeah, she had naughty dreams about her and she did think of her that way, and now that she knew Annie was actually a real person, that made her feelings even worse. It made them sort of real.

“Do you want to try it?” Annie asked her softly.

Mikasa swallowed. “Try what?”

Annie tilted her head. “Do you want to sleep with me?”

The flush travelled down Mikasa’s neck and she was sure she looked incredibly obvious with the blush all over her body. She wondered if Annie could hear her heart pounding or smell the arousal between her legs.

“I would never do something like that to you, Annie,” Mikasa told her sternly. “I don’t expect something like that from you.”

Annie looked down to where she had a bit of the sheet bunched between her fingers. It seemed like a nervous distraction, but Annie seemed completely collected. “But what if I said I want to do something like that?”

Mikasa’s heart nearly stopped. “You… what?”

Annie released the sheet and crawled forward until she was on top of Mikasa, sitting on her lap. Mikasa could only stare dumbly into her eyes. In the dark, they were glowing, but Mikasa thought they were beautiful.

“If not for you, I probably would have stayed empty. I would have been a doll and Hange would have collected me to continue her experiments. You… brought me back to myself. Even before you knew I’m a real person, you still treated me like one. Mikasa, you’re incredibly kind and selfless. You’re beautiful as well, and I’ve noticed. Even with this stupid body, I’m attracted to you.”

Mikasa’s brain was screaming at her to gently push Annie aside and tell her no, they wouldn’t go there. Everything was still so fresh and raw. But deep inside, Mikasa ached. She longed, and with the way Annie was looking at her, with actual desire, it made her weak. Incredibly, stupidly weak.

“I’m attracted to you too,” she admitted softly.

Annie smiled in satisfaction. “See? Not so hard.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to kiss you now, okay?”

“Okay.”

“If you want me to stop, just say so.”

Mikasa nodded, and then Annie leaned forward. The kiss was strange and yet it sent a wave of heat through Mikasa’s body. Annie’s lips were incredibly warm, but her tongue was dry and somehow still smooth. The inside of her mouth tasted faintly like metal, but the firm glide of her tongue and the pressure of her lips made Mikasa’s head swim.

They kissed for what felt like an eternity. Before Mikasa knew it, Annie was kissing along her body, pushing clothing aside to taste her skin and gently nip here and there, and all she could do was arch up into her and moan into the darkness around them. When Annie pushed her underwear aside and tasted her, Mikasa saw stars.

“Mm, you taste good,” Annie purred between her legs.

Mikasa flushed, realizing suddenly that Annie actually could taste her. For a moment she had forgotten, but knowing then that Annie could made her even wetter. “Just shut up and do it, please.”

Annie snorted, but immediately went to work. It didn’t take much time at all before Mikasa was coming hard around two of Annie’s fingers, grinding down hard on her mouth. Through it all, Annie stared at her and Mikasa felt speared through from her look. It was intoxicating.

When she collapsed, Annie crawled along her body to lay on top of her, and Mikasa happily wrapped her up in an embrace.

“You’re warm,” Annie murmured against her throat.

“You too, Annie. So warm.”

They both relaxed into each other. Even as her body rejoiced in the release, she was tensing up again, starting to stress from their situation. She wondered what Annie wanted to do—worried what this meant for them going forward—and tried to figure out what else she could do to give Annie her body back.

Annie suddenly went rigid against her. “Don’t move,” Annie breathed against her ear. “There’s someone in the lounge.”

Slowly, quietly, Annie climbed off the bed. Mikasa followed her and pulled her discarded pants on as quickly as she could. Together they crept out into the hallway, and there in the lounge stood two people Mikasa had never seen before. For a moment Annie remained hidden in the dark, then she straightened and walked out to meet them.

“What are you two doing here?”

It was a man and a woman, and when they caught sight of Annie they both jolted. “Annie!” the man exclaimed. “You’re alive!”

“We came to take you back,” the woman said. “We got a tip off on how to find you.”

From the shadows, Mikasa remained hidden. She wanted to be at Annie’s side to protect her, but something in her gut made her stay back. Annie looked tense, uncertain.

“Who tipped you off, Pieck?” she asked the woman.

Pieck gave her a soft smile. “I don’t know. We were just given this location and told that we could rescue you.”

“Yeah,” the man agreed. “Who cares how we know? You’ve still got a job to do. Once we get you back, you’ll need to report on everything you’ve learnt.”

Curiously, Mikasa noted that neither of them asked if Annie was okay or what she had gone through. They weren’t here to rescue her, but to retrieve her for Marley. Mikasa swallowed and almost stepped out to let Annie know.

“I don’t think I can just go back, Gilliard,” Annie told him. Her voice sounded carefully measured.

“Your dad is waiting for you,” Pieck interjected. “He was the one begging us to come and get you.”

“He was sure you were alright,” Gilliard added. “And he was right.”

“Don’t you want to see him again?”

Annie went silent for a moment. Mikasa panicked, thinking that Annie would agree to go with them. Despite that, she stayed there in the dark and watched, waiting. Her heart was pounding hard and she recognized the soft burn of pain in her chest.

Out of no where Annie’s cat flung into the air, hissing. She stuck her claws into Gilliard’s thigh and bared her fangs at him. He immediately pulled her off of him by the scruff of her neck, and he stared down at the cat with disgust.

“Stupid fucking cat,” he growled. He carelessly tossed her across the room, and the cat immediately fled.

Mikasa’s eyes flicked back to Annie. Her circle was flickering wildly with a bright, angry red. “Take this,” Annie told them suddenly. She produced a drive from her spinal port. “It contains all the information I gathered here. I won’t be going with you. Everything you need is on that drive, though. Thank you for finding me, but I’m not going.”

Gilliard and Pieck shared a look. They looked nervous suddenly, and then Gilliard pulled a gun. He didn’t point it, but he held it purposefully in his hand. For show.

“You should really come back with us, Annie,” he told her.

“Marley really doesn’t want to lose you,” Pieck said.

Annie laughed. “If you point that gun at me, I’ll kill you.” Her voice was hard as steel, suddenly completely dark and lethal. Both Gilliard and Pieck were shocked by it. Pieck reached out and placed a hand on Gilliard’s arm.

“Let’s go,” she told him.

He didn’t seem to want to, but then he put the gun away and nodded. “We’ll come back,” he told Annie. “Don’t think you can get away from us.”

As they left, Mikasa felt all the air rush from her lungs. She ran towards Annie and grabbed hold of her hand.

“You almost went,” she blurted out breathlessly. “But you didn’t.”

Annie turned and buried herself into Mikasa’s arm. “They were going to kill me. I’m not stupid. Besides, I figured out what I want to do.” She pulled back and stared up into Mikasa’s eyes. “Let’s run away together. Leave Paradis and Marley behind, settle somewhere else. Somewhere no one can find us.”

Mikasa stared at her, considering. “That sounds perfect.”

When Hange came to retrieve Annie a day later, she found them missing. Both Marley and Paradis started a desperate search, but never succeeded in tracking them down.

In Quinta, a small country across the world, far away from both nations, Mikasa worked as a mechanic and Annie, her wife, worked at the hospital. Mikasa managed to restore all of Annie’s bodily functions, and even returned some things she had lost. In the process, Mikasa experimented in augmenting herself as well.

As strange as it had all started, they were both happy. From a horrid situation, they found each other, and in that, they found love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Comments are welcome. My tumblr is danijaynel


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